SwampRat's adventures in suburban gardening.

[SwampRat]

Thanks, glad you like it and that I could pass on some ideas.

[SwampRat]

First Pickins!


Had a straggler pop up in the lettuce. I wanted to rip it out a month ago, but the misses wanted to see what it was. Turned out to be an eggplant! Pretty cool, I planted those last year.



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[SwampRat]

Watermelon.


Cherry tomato.


Okra.


Eggplant.


And my new Kiwi vine!


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[curryman]

KIWI??? Please tell us about that.

Curryman

[silversnake]

Wow Swamprat, I'm envious. I just started trying the gardening thing last year with a couple of 4' by 4' raised beds. I've still got the "training wheels" on as I bought started tomato and pepper plants from the local Home Depot, but I'm happy enough seeing flowers on them now and my snap peas and green beans are growing like weeds. The cucumbers are coming in slower though. You've inspired me to try some container gardening next year as I definitely have plans to get more serious about this.

One question and one piece of advice:

First, the question. How did you decide on a location for your garden? I have limited options and it seems that most of my property is under intense direct sun so much that it will fry a lot of things or it is under so much shade that it's not worth trying. Any advice on hardware and plant selection/placement to make my tanning bed of a back yard a little more plant friendly?

Now the advice. Be careful about that water feature. Those things are addictive. I started with a 10-gallon aquarium in the house and now I've got a koi pond in the back yard that's 12' by 6' by 4' deep.

[Dawgboy]

I am not swamprat, but I can answer that question. South facing and full sun are the best things for a veggie garden. Some things like partial shade, but warm season crops like Cucs, Melons, beans, and Squash all want as much sun as possible. Especially as far north as you are.

[SwampRat]

Thanks Dawgboy. I agree. Sun it up man, especially in Mass. The way we avoid burn down south is to plant early and late when the sun is lower in the sky. I chose my garden spot as its the sunniest spot in my yard, and pretty much the only place to put it. Also I am jealous of your Koi pond, have any pictures?

And Curryman, I got the idea listening to Jack Spirko on the survival podcast. I had no idea there were heat tolerant kiwi. So I did a little research and bought one suitable for zone 9. It can get a little tricky, but there is a lot of info on the Web about it. The main thing seems to be either getting a pair or the same kind opposite sexes or a hybred self fertile plant. Full grown within 5 years and tend to be between a 15 and 20 foot long vine. It has to be trellised and pruned something like grapes. The version I got is a self fertile smooth skinned variety called "Issai" being smooth skinned you can eat the fruit like a giant grape. This variety is also supposed to fruit in the second year and has attractive red and green foliage. Oh, and the best part, full sized they yield approximately 50 pounds of fruit a year.

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[SwampRat]

My banana plant has doubled in size! And its got two pups.



Any advice on separating the pups?

[silversnake]

Thanks Dawgboy. I agree. Sun it up man, especially in Mass. The way we avoid burn down south is to plant early and late when the sun is lower in the sky. I chose my garden spot as its the sunniest spot in my yard, and pretty much the only place to put it. Also I am jealous of your Koi pond, have any pictures?

Thanks for the advice. As for photos, it took a bit of digging through the Flickr, but here are a few:


The fish as of early this summer


A bird playing in the waterfall portion of the pond


Another fish photo

I had to go into the way-back machine to find a photo of the whole pond in the frame at once - of course it's a construction in process photo:

You can see the future home of my raised bed gardens in the background of this one.

[Blast]

[quote="silversnake]

Another fish photo
[/quote]

The water hyacinth plants in the picture are edible. Slice up their "hearts" and use theym as water chestnuts in stir-frys.
http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/10/wa ... cinth.html
-Blast

[silversnake]

The water hyacinth plants in the picture are edible. Slice up their "hearts" and use theym as water chestnuts in stir-frys.
http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/10/wa ... cinth.html
-Blast

Interesting. I've learned something new today. My koi sure do love eating their roots, but I never wondered if I could eat the plant as well. Of course, at the rate I have to cull the stuff out of the pond once the height of summer hits, I'd have to eat a hell of a lot of stir-fry.

Now you've got me wanting to research and experiment. Thanks.